Prove you're not a slave. Quit.

I agree with xtrozero. You make choices in life that put you in the place you are. If you are not in an ideal place and consider yourself a slave, whose fault is that? A lack of self-control is often a cause of this. Just think: If you saved 10% of your income, no matter what that income is, in 10 years you would have a year's worth of income. If you're even harder on yourself, you can even do it a lot faster. What freedom there is with a "year in the bank"! If you're there you CAN afford to quit and it's a damned good feeling! Geeez, if I won the lottery I'd have to find a job so I could quit it.

I wish for everyone that they can do what they want to do, really. Best wishes. But you have to do something useful. Nobody else owes you. If you want 'freedom' all you have to do is work for it. If you find yourself in debt, make a plan and work it out.

And I do hope the OP can find enough to pay his court fines.

reply to post by president


slave (slv)

1. One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household.
2. One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence.
3. One who works extremely hard.
4. A machine or component controlled by another machine or component.

I was a slave according to number 1 definition for 27 years. Working for someone. Even though I don't think being paid made me a slave. Not being paid would have made me a slave...

But wanting more freedom, I quit and started my own business three years ago. Now, number 1 definition is out of the equation, number 2 is irrelevant, so is number 4. But I still fit in the number 3 definition of a slave...hmmmm....

So I should quit it all and go live on the street. I don't think so...

So I guess I'll still be a slave for a while...

Originally posted by schuyler
I agree with xtrozero. You make choices in life that put you in the place you are. If you are not in an ideal place and consider yourself a slave, whose fault is that? A lack of self-control is often a cause of this. Just think: If you saved 10% of your income, no matter what that income is, in 10 years you would have a year's worth of income. If you're even harder on yourself, you can even do it a lot faster. What freedom there is with a "year in the bank"! If you're there you CAN afford to quit and it's a damned good feeling! Geeez, if I won the lottery I'd have to find a job so I could quit it.

I wish for everyone that they can do what they want to do, really. Best wishes. But you have to do something useful. Nobody else owes you. If you want 'freedom' all you have to do is work for it. If you find yourself in debt, make a plan and work it out.

And I do hope the OP can find enough to pay his court fines.

Yeah sure I chose to be born, right uh huh I really chose that for myself and I sooooo chose to be born to selfish, dead beat parents who refused me a college education even though they could afford it but they'd rather horde their cash for themselves and screw their children over, It would not have been worse if I were born to methheads or alcoholics...sure What about those people, they chose to be born to degenerates? OK, if you say so, then it must be written in stone... I did choose to go to college through grants, however I did not choose for my engine to blow so that I could not ever make teh rest of the remaining 18 months I needed of classes, I chose the man I am with sure, But since you MEN are so adept at being manipulators, I did not choose to have a self-serving un supportive A$$Hole man who would not make sure That I had gotten to my college classes so I could better improve our situation by having a degree in a field I would have been paid fairly well in. But yeah, don't cry for me, I have taken advantage of the wonderful internet to now once again go after my degree for IT and I might add that in those 3 months I did attend, I was an A student 4.0 GPA, was asked to join Phi Theta Kappa ( The communityy colleges honor socitiety), and had one of my first essays written sent to be published in the college's news paper. OK so don't tell me an education would have been wasted on me, or that my parents felt that way, they never cared, all they cared about was themselves and their money, my upbringing was borderline neglectful... I mean when you'd rather go spend your money on another house that is the same size, the same amount of bedrooms and what not as the house you live in the year your daughter is graduating instead of just keeping the older house and spending money on your daughter's future IMO you're a POS and Again I didn't choose to have a POS parent!!!!!!!! But that's okay, I am bringing myself up now, as it has taken me a long time and although my mother calls me the dissappointment, she in fact is the dissappointment and I am rushing against the clock, and against all the naysayers and proving beyond a reasonable doubt that I am not the dissappointment that they are!!!! And yes it may have taken me 38 years+ because things kept pushing me back to square one, that'll only prove my worthiness, my strength and fortitude, as well as my perserverence, I am sure given the assinine setbacks I have had in my life that those two parents of mine, or bio-donators, would not have come half as far as I have gotten!!!!

reply to post by ldyserenity


Just Wow! Nice rant. I'll bet those keys are hot. Did you break any? I always broke the "a" key when I used typewriters using the hunt & whack method. My guess is the majority on ATS would suggest to you that you did, in fact, choose your parents and that you might think of this as an opportunity and challenge to get through. And look: You did. You made it through all that adversity. Congratulations! You're nobody's slave! That's the whole point.

Of course, you hate half the human race and have hurled enough vitriol at your parents to burn down a mid-sized city, so it slooks like it's still all about you. So in addition to hoping the OP gets enough money to pay his court fines, I also hope you are up to your next challenge, which is to get beyond all that hatred and self-pity you exhibited in your post. Not my call, of course. Just my opinion. Good luck.

reply to post by schuyler


Self pity no way, I have no self pity, but on the same note I also have no pity for anybody else, hatred, it's not hatred unless you are talking about hatred toward the bio-donors, other people, well, I could care less for but I don't hate them. I just avoid them, like I would any impending doom coming my way. but it's not even really hatred towards my parents it's dissappointment like I beleive I stated in the post. And if I did choose them then I must've been some sadistic masochistic soul. I must love torture, or maybe it was to learn how to be a better parent by not folowing their example? Well, then mission accomplished, I have been heads above them as a parent.

[edit on 12-7-2010 by ldyserenity]

Yes, I had the balls to get up and tell my boss I'm sick and t.ired of this job and going home. Doesn't take one of ATS's rocket scientists to estimate what happened next, right?

I've been unemployed since April and living off the government. I have no motivation to find another job as there is nothing in my area that I either care to do or am qualified to do.

Seem like these days one needs a college degree just to be the assistant toliet paper changer. I've slammed the door behind me and just have a brick wall infront of me. What is the point of workking so the rich just get richer and the rest of us suffer.

Afterall, we all die eventually. The doom and gloom threads at ATS support the theory that with will happen to us all in just a matter of days, weeks for at least the end of 2012. I have nothing to look forward to. My children and grandchildren will all be dead like me and you. THERE IS NO FUTURE.

Be realistic. When the SHTF who is going to be comfortable with what that might bring for you. Starvation, radiation posioning, deadly chemicals, lack of medication, and everything else we are used to.

Death is the only future we have. Unless the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncomming train I've little more to say.

My job is being outsourced to India anyway.

I have about 30 days.

At 58 I don't think I'll be able to find another job and the prospect of greeting people at Walmart doesn't sound too appealing.

My husband is 66 with a aeorta valve replacement. While he has a good job, his days are numbered. His genes dictate that no male lives in his family to see 70.

People just can't up and quit.

With the zillions of Chinese, Mexicans and East Indians willing to take our jobs at the drop of a hat just upping and quitting isn't going to do jack.

Companies will only find someone younger, brighter, multilingual and willing to work at half the price.

We still have six years to pay off our mortgage and two special needs children that are adults.

Are you going to assist my family?

I don't think so and I don't want to end up like the people I serve meals to two days a month that are homeless.

Being homeless is no fun. Try sleeping somewhere - where you have no front door to lock. You are at the mercy of anyone walking by.

People often think that they "made" it because they were so smart.

Fact is it is often times luck.

Luck of being born into a stable middle class family (I wasn't).

Luck of have two parents (I didn't - father never claimed me).

Luck of having good genes.

Luck of being born with both emotional and logical intellegence.

Luck of being educated in good schools and living in a nice neighborhood.

Much of life is luck and many folks get the poop end of the stick.

Two days after my mother died of lung cancer (I was ten) I was sat down and told by my sister's husband, "Nobody gets a free lunch. You either work (cleaning, cooking & babysit) or you'll find yourself out on the street or in a orphanage".

I learned, early on that life is rough.

Most people that have access to a pc and the time to post on ATS have no comphrension how the other half lives.

I've been there and I'm now in a nice home with a loving husband.

If you've read my other posts, I am constantly bucking the powers that be. They are the bankers and corporate heads. The service to self people at the expense of everyone else.

How to take them down?

Haven't a clue but it's time to pass the torch to you young ones.

I'm not going to up and quit, but I can't wait for my boss to say, today is your last day.

BTY: I've endured 15 years with bosses that would make any army drill sergent look kind.

My current boss could eat you up like a finger h'orderve anyday.

ANOK is right, "Freedom starts with us, the way we treat each other, the way we are intolerant to each other, the way we bully those that dare to be themselves".


[edit on 13-7-2010 by ofhumandescent]

reply to post by schuyler


"Just think: If you saved 10% of your income, no matter what that income is, in 10 years you would have a year's worth of income"

That statement is from someone that makes enough money to put food on the table and a roof over their head with extra.

How about people that are working two jobs, making barely minimum wage and a cheap apartment in my community is 700 a month.

With many people there is no "extra" every single cent goes towards shelter and food - very basic necessary stuff.

I'm seeing with each passing year more and more people in line for food that were once a strong middle class.

Some people make millions of dollars a year doing absolutely nothing and some people bust their arse for crumbs, often times these are the people that get you your breakfast burrito and coffee or watch your children while you work.

We don't mind paying Beyounce millions to get up on a stage and shake her booty but we begrudge our teachers, day care workers and people that do the real work even a half way decent salary.

I'm not putting your statement down as much as trying to wake people up that some people, through no fault of their own aren't able to save.

Many now days in this society are just barely making it.

Being able to save something is for those few who earn enough that they can afford to save.

I haven't or won't go into the cost of living going up each year. My husband, because my company is outsourcing me, will have to work until he is 70.

We are lucky, my husband and I will have a decent pension and 401K in addition to SS. We have one small 10 year old car, a house almost paid off and only use credit cards for emergencies.

We don't buy stuff on credit.

Most people around where I live buy hugh SUV's, big fancy homes and expensive clothes and laugh at us because we have lived modestly over the last 36 years of our marriage.

Still, saving for most people is becoming impossible.





[edit on 13-7-2010 by ofhumandescent]

So the two main solutions seem to be either become self employed or live off the land.

Let’s say that you built yourself a tent, made yourself some clothing and moved into the woods and started catching or finding your own food, like those guys on those survival shows. it would not be long before you were arrested for vagrancy and forced back into their system.

Or, let’s say that you collected all of the luxuries that you had earned over the years. Let’s say that you paid off your car and your house. Then let’s say that you bought yourself some solar panels for electricity and grew your own food and even bought yourself one of those windmills that take water right out of the air so you didn't even need to buy water. You could actually make it where you didn't have to make or spend another dime for the rest of your life right.
But. Don’t pay your taxes and see how long it takes them to force you back into their system.

i HAVE "Quit!" a few times now. i like to drop out of society every few years and do my recluse thing. what iv'e learned is that a happy medium is necessary. without work, without a routine, i find myself becoming lost and without motivation. work is not only just to buy stuff. it provides a sense of self-satisfaction, fulfillment, and allows for greater social interaction. all of these things are positives to the human condition.

reply to post by president


You call it "their" system, but it is you passionately and vehemently defending that system and insisting it can not be beat. No sir, that system is yours, and you want it, this much is clear.

I think we all have to agree on one thing here; though the concept of what the OP is trying to convey would be nice, and it would be freeing/empowering, there is the reality that the system is what it is...and we're here living in it, by no choice of our own, so yes, in that way we are a slave to it, but in many regards those that have replied here are right, we do have choices and if you're like me... Tell your boss to shove it, take some time before you do this though and really think about what you would enjoy doing, then while you're on hiatus attend schooling for that, that's what I did. I also am lucky to find support from someone I didn't get that support from in the past, well, if you're stubborn and overbearing like me, you CAN change a person, if they do not live to your expectations, not always it does take a strong will, or a good ultimatum. Anyway if you are single without kids this should be fairly easy for you. See if you can move in with the parental units usually parents support their children while they attend school, but if that's not an option a lot of times you can ask for dorm space depending on where you go and if they don't have dorm space, a lot of grants do give housing and such for the cost of living. Especially if thiss is the first time you've applied. (I don't get cost of living money because I had grants prior in which they did give me that) anyway if you support children either a single parent or in a relationship, you usually can get welfare and FS. Mostly everyone will get accepted now, if even for a short time, I mean even I did till this month, because of the economy they give everyone that forst year, so, they will help.
At least if you love what you're doing you don't feel so much like a slave, because even if the pay is not cherry, you can and most likely won't mind doing some contract jobs or a second job on the side, or whatever. This also builds your experience as well, which could bring you to some other company's view, which will get you a better paying job. The fact is, that if you enjoy what you're doing it won't feel like work. It will feel like a hobby that makes you money. JMO.

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
reply to post by president

 

You call it "their" system, but it is you passionately and vehemently defending that system and insisting it can not be beat. No sir, that system is yours, and you want it, this much is clear.

The problem isn't that he wants it, I don't really think he or anyone wants this system, however there is the problem of getting msot people to admit they hate it, and to actually do something about it. Unfortunately nobody wants to lead the rebellion, it's scary it's risky, and there may be prison time involved and being labeled a domestic terrorist, so although the concept would be nice, in reality this is not an option yet, until someone decides to bite the bullet, become the leader and organize a group. That isn't easy to do, you know... what we need is someone like MLK, or like our founding fathers but it's sad to say a mojority of humans just don't have that gumption anymore.

The system is great, people don't realize how good they have it.

Just go look at the children in Africa and tell me the system sucks.

I admit it needs a complete overhaul, but I am not in control.

But having options in life as meager as they can be, is better then being in a lot of other places....

reply to post by ldyserenity


No individual needs a consensus in order to pursue happiness. All life is risky, and because it is risky, it is scary. When someone demands that others prove they are not a slave and declares they are because he is, that person is not just defending his own servitude, he is insisting everyone else must be a slave along with him. He has made his choice to be a slave. He can rant and rave all he wants that others must be slaves as well, but the more he insists upon this the more he looks like a tyrant dressed up in slaves clothing.

reply to post by ofhumandescent


I saved money when I made the minimum wage of $2.10 an hour. Don't tell me it can't be done. It wasn't luck; it was a mindset. It was living as cheaply as possible. No luxuries. No "cable." And after a year and a half I was in a position to quit that job, and I did. That was the original point of this thread. What I have tried to do here is convince people that yes, it CAN be done at any level. You can put yourself in a position the OP is suggesting.

There surely is a lot of 'woe is me' in this thread. I also am interested in the idea of 'luck' vs. 'design.' It's a fundamental question and I don't have the answer. Frankly, I don't think we'll know until we're dead and at that point I suspect some things will become more clear, including who is responsible for the things that happen to us. I think we have more of a role in that than we are willing to admit.

My working hypothesis, unproven, is that we are responsible for what happens to us. Oh, I think certain things look like luck from our perspective, but it's a bit unfair to claim those who appear to be doing well are there just because they are lucky. It couldn't be that they have more drive and energy, that they actually are smarter, that they are self-driven, that they actually set out to succeed and believed in themselves. It couldn't possibly be that because, after all, they can't possibly be smarter than we are.

Surely you cannot believe you are simply a helpless victim blown where the wind sends you with no possibility of guiding your own life. Didn't you make the choices that placed you where you are now? You chose to get married. You chose to have kids. You chose your profession. You chose to get an education--or not. You chose to take on debt. You chose to live where you do. No one forced you. And no one owes you. People who think everyone owes them mistake equality of opportunity with equality of achievement.

When I first read the initial post here I wasn't very impressed, really, but as I see how this thread has evolved I'm getting more behind the original message. I don't think 'quitting your job' to prove you're not a slave is really as much of an issue as taking control of your own life by any means necessary. That means taking on complete responsibility for yourself, not blaming other people, and not talking like Eeyore.

Life is a poker game. It has nothing to do with fairness. Play the hand you are dealt.

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
reply to post by ldyserenity

 

No individual needs a consensus in order to pursue happiness. All life is risky, and because it is risky, it is scary. When someone demands that others prove they are not a slave and declares they are because he is, that person is not just defending his own servitude, he is insisting everyone else must be a slave along with him. He has made his choice to be a slave. He can rant and rave all he wants that others must be slaves as well, but the more he insists upon this the more he looks like a tyrant dressed up in slaves clothing.

I guess I read the response wrong, I thought you meant do something about the system instead of complaining about it, sorry.

Thanks for the advice O.P

I've been wanting to quit my job for the past few months now, my supervisor is an a-hole and snaps at every little thing.

Last night I left earlier than usual (I work 10 hours) and hopefully they call me up to have a "talk with me" and that usually means that you are gone But yeah the bad thing is if I quit there aren't many job openings in my area at the moment. Don't know what to do.

Originally posted by Quickfix
The system is great, people don't realize how good they have it.

Just go look at the children in Africa and tell me the system sucks.

It's not their system that caused their problems, it's yours.

It's great because it has stolen resources from Africa for your benefit.

It's great because your country made a lot of money from the slave trade and it's endless wars.

It's great because people in other countries are paid a dollar a day to produce the goods you buy cheaply and enjoy. Goods the workers themselves can't afford.

It's great because it monopolizes the world economy with its military and banking system.

Yeah great init?

I already did. I haven't had a job in at least 2 years and don't plan on getting one in the foreseeable future. I stick to being my own boss, it doesn't make me rich but it does make me free. However, I'll admit I am still a slave in certain regards, I won't be completely free until I am homeless with no possessions. I'm working on it, whenever there is bad weather I sit outside just to experience the sensation of living without a roof over my head. In fact, just today it was raining and I sat on the grass and meditated. It was great.